Reddit’s looking to improve discovery within the app, via some new updates to its search tools that’ll help more users find what they’re looking for faster in stream.

First off, Reddit’s adding a new “Media” tab to its search results display, which will make it easier to find visual content related to your query.

As you can see in this example, now, if you’re looking for images or video, you’ll be able to switch across to the dedicated “Media” tab in your search results, which will give you an overview of those results specifically.

As per Reddit:

“Previously, redditors would need to scroll through results on the posts tab to find specific media. With this latest update, redditors now have the option to browse media results – videos, GIFs, and images – all at once.”

Reddit’s also adding the same for specific subreddits, so you can search for visual elements within a selected community.

It’s a handy update, which could make it easier to find what you’re seeking in the app.

On a related front, Reddit’s also updating the design of its search results page, in order to simplify the browsing experience.

Reddit says that the new and improved Search layout reduces clutter, and utilizes “a sleeker format, making it easier and more intuitive to find the content users seek”.

It’s not a radical change, but it could help guide more users to specific elements, with a simplified presentation of related communities and posts.

Reddit’s also looking to improve accessibility, by making posts and comments in its search results pages screen reader compatible, while it’s also adding labels, roles/traits, values, and states to all elements, further enhancing discoverability.

Finally, Reddit’s also rolling out improvements for its mobile web browsing experience for logged-out users, which will improve discovery for non-Redditors.

The updated web display will include additional filters and tools, while Reddit also says that search is now 85% faster within its mobile web experience. That could help more non-users glean more insight from the app, and drive them towards key elements of interest, which, ideally, will also entice them to become regular users if the platform as well.

Which is what Reddit really needs.

Back in 2019, Reddit reported that it had 430 million monthly active users, a major growth milestone for the app. But over the next couple of years, amid various updates to its content rules, leading to the removal of many of the most controversial subreddits, Reddit changed its reporting on this front, switching to daily active users instead.

Reddit now reports having 57 million daily actives, which doesn’t necessarily mean that it doesn’t still have 430 million monthly actives. But given that the common variance here for social apps is around 2x daily-to-monthly users, it looks like Reddit has lost a lot of that audience, and it’s most recent moderator protests, and rule changes as a result, likely haven’t helped much in this regard.

Reddit’s very keen to build on its business potential, but a key element of that is in facilitating reach. Of course, Reddit’s thousands of highly engaged subreddit communities offer specific audience focus in this regard, but more users, too, would be a lot more beneficial, and improving its search tools could be one way to enhance its capacity to draw more people in, and expand its engagement.

It might not drive a heap of new sign-ups, but it’s a good point of focus, which will help in Reddit’s broader growth plans.

Reddit says that its new search updates are being rolled out on both iOS and Android from this week.